An end to the isolation of West Lothian's 'island village' inched closer this week with the news that designs for a vital bridge crossing could be ready by March.
Engineers will begin site surveys at Stoneyburn crossroads for a new bridge linking Stoneyburn to Fauldhouse next week, with West Lothian Council keen to reach a deal to purchase land from its current owners.
Councillors welcomed confirmation of progress on the long awaited pathway link for Stoneyburn, branded by residents as an 'island village' due to a lack of cycle or walking links with their nearest shopping and medical facilities.
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In a report to the Fauldhouse and Breich Valley Local Area Committee, Ronnie Fisher, the council’s Design Engineering Manager confirmed ground engineering surveys would start next week.
The bridge will link a footpath/cyclepath at Stoneyburn crossroads across the busy A706 road which runs north from Lanarkshire to Whitburn. A safe crossing on this road has pushed the price of the pedestrian/ cycle path up to close to £1m because of the ground levelling and engineering work required. The crossing alone will cost around £500,000.
Mr Fisher told the meeting: “The area of the embankment on the west side of the A706 has been cleared of vegetation to allow further topographical information to be gathered and ground investigation works to be undertaken. The topographical survey was carried out on 22 December 2022 and the ground investigation is programmed to be carried out during the week commencing 16 January.”
And he added: “Discussions are ongoing with landowners along the route between Bents and the A706. However, design of the bridge requires it to be completed before discussions with the affected landowner can progress. It is anticipated that the detailed design of the bridge will be completed by the end of March 2023.”
Councillor Pauline Clark asked why the negotiations with landowners had to await a bridge design. Mr Fisher said the survey and design work would have to be carried out to judge the footprint of the bridge and how much land needs to be bought.
“We really need to wait until we have enough information on the design so our property colleagues can engage with the landowner,” he added.
Councillor Clark asked: “If there’s discussion ongoing how positive is that at the moment and are we quite optimistic that things are going fairly smoothly?”
Mr Fisher said: “From updates from colleagues in property services it’s kind of mixed. Some landowners are fairly positive, others there maybe a bit more work required.”
He added that he hoped that the council would not have to go down the route of Compulsory Purchase Order because this would delay the start of the project.
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